Sector · professional services
AI in professional services: more advice, less retyping
For accountancy firms, law firms, advisory and consultancy firms, recruiters and real estate agents. AI does the groundwork: intake, first drafts of reports and quotes, hours and files, and answers from your own knowledge base. The professional keeps the judgement, and confidential data stays in the EU.
- Van Berkel: 192 hours a month back
- KplusV: matching against 700+ investors
- Data stays in the EU
- InA request comes inby email, from a customer or client
- AIAI reads and summarizeswho, what, when and what's missing
- AIPrepared in the systemlabelled and checked
- HumanAn employee approvesand picks up the conversation
- DoneOn to the right colleague
192 hours a month back at Van Berkel Professionals
Worked with us
01 / What it is
What does AI do in professional services?
In professional services, you sell knowledge and time. AI takes over the part of that time that doesn't require knowledge: reading and retyping requests, searching files, drafting first versions of reports and quotes, describing hours. The professional keeps the judgement, the advice and the relationship with the client.
The potential is large. In June 2026, RaboResearch estimated that 64 percent of tasks in professional services can be (partly) automated. In experiments, the research saw productivity gains of around 10 percent to sometimes more than 50 percent, depending on the task. According to RaboResearch, the work is shifting towards advice and oversight.
That sounds like a threat, but in the office it feels different. Most firms we talk to don't have too many people, but too few. Seniors are checking reports late into the evening, juniors are hard to find, and the knowledge of the partner who steps down in five years isn't written down anywhere. AI doesn't solve that, but it does make room.
01Intake
Requests and files read, summarized and prepared. Anything missing is flagged.
02Reports and quotes
A first draft in your format, based on earlier work. The expert finishes it.
03Knowledge base
Answers from your own files, procedures and past advice, with the source.
04Hours and admin
Time entries described, invoices prepared, files updated.
- of tasks in professional services can be (partly) automatedRaboResearch (2026)
- 64%
- productivity gain in experiments, sometimes more than 50%RaboResearch (2026)
- 10%+
- a month back on request processing, around 2 FTEVan Berkel Professionals client case
- 192 h
- investors AI matches every pitch deck againstKplusV client case
- 700+
02 / Sound familiar?
Billable hours, except for the hours you can't bill.
Every firm has work that has to be done, but that nobody can charge to the client. That's where the gain is.
The intake
“We read every request three times: when it comes in, when we schedule it and when we start.”
The report
“Two seniors know how a report like that should be written. The rest learn by looking over their shoulder.”
The quote
“We cut and paste from old quotes. And hope there's no old client name left in it.”
The hours
“Friday afternoon, reconstructing the week's hours from calendar and email.”
The file
“Have we done this before? Probably. But who did it, and where is it?”
03 / Who it's for
AI for accountants, lawyers, advisory firms, recruiters and real estate agents.
Professional services is a broad field, but the pattern is the same everywhere: a lot of reading, a lot of writing, a lot of knowledge in a few heads. What differs per profession is where AI delivers something first.
Accountancy
Accountancy and bookkeeping firms
Sorting and organizing client documents, answering client questions from the file, preparing notes and reports. The accountant reviews and signs.
Legal
Law firms and legal departments
Searching and summarizing files, checking contracts against your own standard, a first outline of a memo, describing time entries. The lawyer decides and is responsible.
Advisory and consultancy
Advisory and consultancy firms
Reports from expert knowledge, quotes and proposals, intake of new questions and a knowledge base of past projects. As at KplusV: AI assesses, the consultant checks.
Recruitment and secondment
Recruitment and secondment agencies
Processing requests from clients, drafting job ads, putting CVs into your own format. We leave selecting candidates to people: under the AI Act, that is high risk.
Real estate
Real estate agents and property firms
Property descriptions and brochures, questions from buyers and tenants, viewing reports and files in order. The agent keeps the contact and the negotiation.
And more
Notaries, engineering firms, intermediaries
Wherever professionals read and write a lot, you find the same pattern. Book an intro call and we'll look together at where most of the groundwork is.
04 / Before and after
Where AI takes over work first in a firm.
Six processes that make a good starting point in professional services. The gains at Van Berkel and for quotes and proposals were measured at clients; for the others it's an indication.
- Van Berkel: 192 hours a month
Requests and intake
Before
Reading every request by email, retyping it and passing it on to the right colleague.
With AI
Read, summarized and prepared in the system. An employee approves.
- Indication: hours per report
Reports from expert knowledge
Before
A senior writes every report from a blank page, or from an old report for another client.
With AI
A first outline in your format, based on hundreds of earlier reports. The expert finishes it.
- 4 hours → 1 hour
Quotes and proposals
Before
Cutting and pasting from old proposals and the CRM.
With AI
A first draft with the client details filled in. The partner or account manager writes the last mile.
- Indication: 10 to 20 min per question
Knowledge from past files
Before
Asking around the office whether anyone has done this before.
With AI
The knowledge base assistant finds similar cases and advice, with the source attached.
- Indication: 1 hour a week per person
Recording hours
Before
Friday afternoon, reconstructing the week from calendar, email and memory.
With AI
A proposal for the time entries based on calendar and files. The professional checks and adjusts.
- Indication: 30 to 60 min per document
Checking contracts and documents
Before
Reading every contract from start to finish to find the three clauses that deviate.
With AI
The deviations from your standard highlighted, with an explanation. The lawyer decides.
05 / Cases
Two firms, two approaches.
Two cases from professional services. One is about volume, the other about expert knowledge. In both, a human approves.
192 h
Van Berkel Professionals · request processing
Every request read and prepared
At Van Berkel Professionals, requests came in by email that someone had to read, retype and pass on. Now AI reads every request, extracts the key details and prepares everything in the system. An employee approves.
The result: 192 hours a month back, around two FTE.
700+
KplusV · advisory
Every pitch deck assessed against their own canvas
Advisory firm KplusV assesses pitch decks and connects entrepreneurs with investors. Now AI reads every deck, assesses it against KplusV's own canvas and finds the matching investors in a database of more than 700.
The consultant always checks. The firm's expertise is in the canvas; AI makes sure that expertise is applied the same way to every deck.
06 / Expert knowledge
Can AI write an advisory report?
A first draft, yes. The advice, no. AI writes an outline in your format, based on the file and hundreds of earlier reports. The expert checks, adjusts and signs. That saves the most work exactly where seniors now spend their evenings.
It only works with good examples. Together with you, we collect the reports you're proud of, record what makes a good report good, and teach the assistant your structure, tone and standard wording. Without those examples we work with at most 40 percent reliability, and we say so up front.
And there's an added benefit that management often only sees later: the knowledge of those two seniors is suddenly written down somewhere. Not in a handbook nobody reads, but in a working assistant that a new colleague can use from day one.
AI drafts the outline, the expert finishes it. Liability stays where it belongs.
01Role: AI assists
For advice and reports, the human does the work and AI delivers the first draft. The expert is responsible.
02Hundreds of examples
The assistant learns from your best work, not from the internet.
03Sources cited
Every statement can be traced back to the file or an earlier report.
04Knowledge secured
What was in two heads now belongs to the whole firm.
07 / Confidentiality and GDPR
Confidential work calls for agreements made in advance.
Client files, financial documents, personal data: in professional services almost everything is confidential. In August 2024, the Dutch Data Protection Authority reported data breaches caused by employees entering personal data into AI chatbots. That's why we arrange the data agreements before we build.
No client data in stand-alone chatbots
We build on business environments with agreements on storage and use. Azure OpenAI is an option.
Data stays in the EU
On your own infrastructure or on our servers with a European provider.
Permissions per file
The assistant only sees what the user is allowed to see. Everything is logged.
The professional signs
Confidentiality obligations and professional rules stay with the human. AI delivers groundwork, not a final judgement.
08 / Which route
ChatGPT on its own, industry software or a custom AI workflow?
Three routes we come across at firms. They don't exclude each other: often you use them side by side. For the first route, good AI training helps more than a build project.
| ChatGPT or Copilot on its own | Standard software for your industry | Custom AI workflow | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick to start | ✓ | ✓ | After the Quick Scan |
| Works in your own systems | · | In that one package | ✓ |
| Knows your format and knowledge | Only what you paste in | Partly | ✓ |
| Data agreements | Depends on the licence | Per vendor | Agreed in advance, data in the EU |
| Human in the loop built in | Up to you to watch | Varies | ✓ |
| When to choose | Personal productivity, with good training | If it solves exactly your problem | With volume, your own knowledge and multiple systems |
Swipe sideways to see all columns →
Is there standard software that solves your problem? Buy it. We build where standard software stops.
09 / Where does your firm stand?
From prompting to agents.
Most firms are in phase one: everyone tries something with ChatGPT or Copilot, each on their own. The value for the firm is in phases three and four, where workflows and agents take over the groundwork in the process.
Where are you? Click a phase.
- What it looks like
- People use ChatGPT or Copilot for an email or a summary. The handy ones save time, the rest watch.
- What you need
- Licences, a few ground rules and basic prompting skills.
- What it delivers
- Personal and hard to measure. The organization barely notices.
Our advice if you're here
Get your team to the same level in one afternoon. Then you'll see where work piles up.
10 / How to approach it
From first conversation to an assistant in the file.
We build within the AI Partnership. You start with the € 6,000 AI Quick Scan: one day at your office, and within a week a business case per opportunity.
- 01
Intro call
Fifteen minutes
Where does most of the non-billable time go?
- 02
AI Quick Scan
One day plus a week
Conversations with partners and staff, processes mapped, business case and roadmap.
- 03
Data and examples
First weeks
Agreements on confidentiality, and a collection of your best work to learn from.
- 04
First process live
Quarter 1
Usually intake or reports. A human approves everything, and every month you see what it delivers.
11 / Questions
Frequently asked questions about AI in professional services.
What can AI do in professional services?
AI takes over the groundwork: reading and summarizing requests and files, drafting first versions of reports, quotes and memos, checking contracts against your own standard, describing hours and answering questions from your own knowledge base. The professional keeps the judgement and the responsibility.
How much work in professional services can AI take over?
In June 2026, RaboResearch estimated that 64 percent of tasks in professional services can be (partly) automated, with productivity gains in experiments of around 10 percent to sometimes more than 50 percent. What it delivers for you depends on volume and data. At Van Berkel Professionals, request processing delivered 192 hours a month.
Can AI write an advisory report or memo?
AI can write a first draft in your format, based on the file and earlier reports. The advice and the responsibility stay with the expert, who checks, adjusts and signs. The better the examples of good work, the better the first draft.
Is AI safe for confidential client files?
Yes, if you set it up properly. At NinA AI, data stays in the EU, on your own infrastructure or on our servers with a European provider. The assistant only sees what the user is allowed to see, everything is logged and there's always a human in the loop. We work to ISO 27001 and NEN 7510 (certification in preparation).
Can we put client data into ChatGPT?
Not just like that. In August 2024, the Dutch Data Protection Authority reported data breaches caused by employees entering personal data into AI chatbots. Work with business licences and clear agreements on which data may go in. For processes involving client data, we build an environment where the data agreements are set in advance.
Can AI help with recruitment and selection?
With the administrative part, yes: processing requests from clients, drafting job ads and putting CVs into your own format. We leave assessing or selecting candidates to people. Under the AI Act, AI that filters applications or assesses candidates falls into the high-risk category, with strict requirements for human oversight and documentation.
What does AI cost for an advisory or accountancy firm?
You start with the € 6,000 AI Quick Scan. After that, the AI Partnership runs on package S (€ 4,500 per month, 30 hours), M (€ 7,500 per month, 50 hours) or L (€ 12,000 per month, 80 hours), for a minimum of twelve months. We only start if the business case shows the partnership earning back at least twice the investment in the first year. All amounts excluding VAT.
Will AI cost jobs at our firm?
AI mainly takes over tasks, not whole jobs. RaboResearch expects the work to shift towards advice and oversight. Most firms we talk to use the time freed up for clients and for growth without hiring more people, because good people are scarce.
More time for advice, less for retyping?
Book an intro call. Together we'll look at where most of the non-billable hours are in your firm.
01
Intro call
Fifteen minutes, no strings. Where does work get stuck and what do you want to achieve?
02
AI Quick Scan
One day on site. Within a week, a business case and a roadmap.
03
AI Partnership
A dedicated team that builds, trains and shows what it delivers every month.
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